Queen and Slim

“Thank you for this journey, no matter how it ends.”

Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

Queen and Slim is  the directorial debut of Melina Matsoukas and the writing debut of Lena Waithe. Most notably, the film features Daniel Kaluuya as Slim and Jodie Turner-Smith as Queen. 

Very early in the film, the two are on a first date when they're pulled over by a police officer who is very much the "I am the bad cop." The scuffle results in the police man's death as Slim acts in self defense and Queen and Slim are now on the run. Unbeknownst to them, they have become social media icons which inspires protests. 

It's very interesting what this film does on both a meta-narrative level and through its framing device. 
When I saw the trailer for this film, it was very obvious that this was a Bonnie and Clyde-type of narrative. Like it wasn't obvious enough already, there is a line of dialogue in the film that spells out that portion of the narrative similarity for you. 

However, the framing device is this relationship between love and hate. There is this one sequence where it intercuts between a protest and more sensual scene and that kind of juxtaposition makes the subtext more interesting to look at. However, this entire film is quite messy in what it's trying to say. 
It feels like the type of film that's trying to say everything, but can't say it all. There are very obvious parallels to slavery and trying to flee to a free land. That coupled with the Bonnie and Clyde parallels all contribute to a film that just doesn't center on that aspect, which is good. What one should do is take something like the Bonnie and Clyde structure and tell it in a new light with different themes, which this film does. Though it doesn't quite execute everything it sets out to do, it does feel like its own thing and not a Frankenstein's monster of many different kinds of narratives. 

The characters of Queen and Slim, retroactively, are very interesting. It took some time to latch onto them because they hardly open up to each other until halfway through the film, but the idea of them becoming symbols of a movement that they want no part of is interesting because you see how these characters react to such. 

They just want to survive, they don't care about starting a "movement." A movement that, by the way, is only told to the audience through a string of characters. We only see such movement in one scene where something very startling does happen and it's never brought up again. All of which contributed to my "this film is messy" theory.

The pacing of the second act is very laborious as well. After the initial shock of these two being on the run floats away, they spend the next hour driving and stopping at places like they're in 'The Sugarland Express.' The televisions keep saying that there's a manhunt for these two, but the fact that they have the time to stop and pet horses for a while doesn't make me believe that they're wanted by anybody. I understand what the filmmaker was trying to do by having their relationship grow in spite of them being wanted lends to the theme of freedom. But again, it's all too much trying to be said to where I'm not sure what's trying to be said.

The third act really does pickup and has many tension-filled sequences. It also has a very strong ending that makes you forget about issues with the second act. However, if you choose to go see this film, please don't bring your five year-old child so that she can sit directly behind me and watch cartoons on your phone.

Rating: See It

-Nolan